Overview

This map works to explain who I am as a person. The map highlights places that have influenced my
growth in character and moral standards, as well as basic skills. The map is pretty accurate to who I am
as a person. It portrays my emphasis I have put on compassion and my drive to learn new skills. The map
shows that I value the work that I put into new experiences. Through this map and project I have gained
a better understanding of the learning outcomes incorporated in this class. I will be able to think
critically about my work and continue to improve upon it in the future because of my understanding of
the learning outcomes
Sarah Snuggs
This is the place where my first true friendship formed. When I was a toddler I was babysat and put
through preschool by a woman named Mrs. Susan. Every day I was dropped off at her house and was
greeted by Mrs. Susan and my best friend, Sarah Snuggs.
I remember Sarah walking in on a Monday with her arm in a blue sling. She had broken her collar bone
after falling off a swing at her house over the weekend. I, of course, was so jealous that Sarah had done
something as cool as breaking a bone and she wasnt even five yet! Sarah, on the other hand, was not as
thrilled with her injury. She was not used to the immobility of her arm yet and was struggling to find a
way to do the activities she normally enjoyed. At one point, Sarah and I were sitting down at a table in
Mrs. Susans den coloring pictures like preschoolers do. For some reason we had chosen markers to
color with that day and Sarah was having a hard time getting her marker open. Before she even asked
for my help I turned to her and grabbed one side of the marker. Together Sarah and I pulled apart the
marker and the cap, allowing Sarah to color as she wished.
At the time of this event it really seemed like nothing; I was simply helping someone out and we just
happened to practice cooperation to complete a task. However, as I look back at this event now I am
able to see just how much this small act has affected my life. Helping Sarah allowed me to learn and
become literate in friendship and developed my Knowledge of the Conventions of friendship.
It was because of this event that I understand how to make friends and keep them. One of the keys to a
successful friendship is compassion. Sarah and I have made it a point to address our friendship using this
principle and that is why I believe our friendship has lasted almost 15 years. Sarah is always willing to
put my needs before hers. Whether this is bringing me Swedish Fish after a rough day, or holding my
Cookout milkshake as I drive us home, she is somehow able to see and meet my needs even before I ask
for help. She is such a compassionate person and pushes me to be compassionate as well. This basic skill
of friendship, cultivated in my relationship with Sarah, has translated to every other friendship I have
had since then. It has also affected how I interact with new people. Because of my relationship with
Sarah I try to approach new people with compassion.
I am literate in friendship because of my relationship Sarah and the knowledge of the basic conventions
of friendship that I gained through it.
West Cabarrus Church
This is the place that I first accepted Jesus as my savior and where I began to grow as a Christian. West
Cabarrus Church has been my church since the age of four. It is where I received the basic knowledge of

who Jesus was and what He has done for me. I was also here that I began to take the basic knowledge I
had of the Bible and of God and apply it to my life and morals. Through my Sunday school as a child I
gained Rhetorical Knowledge of what it means to be a Christian.
Every Sunday morning, I would go to West Cabarrus Church and head to a Sunday school class for my
grade level. Here we would learn basic Bible verses like John 3:16 that states For God so loved the
world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have
everlasting life. When I was in first through fourth grade this is basically all we would do, but when I
entered fifth grade, I began to learn how to apply these verses to my life.
My Sunday school leader was Mr. Mitchell in the fifth grade. One morning he brought up the verses in 1
John, chapter 4, that read We love because He first loved us And He has given you this command:
Anyone who loves God must also love their brothers and sisters. After reading this verse and discussing
it with my peers, I realized just how vital it is to love others. I knew that God loved us despite us being
imperfect but it was not until I read these verses that I understood that God has instructed us to love
others in spite of their imperfections as well.
These verses have led to my emphasis in life on forgiveness and compassion. I was able to understand
from this passage that everyone deserves love. This means that everyone should be treated fairly, cared
for, and understood. It also through this verse that I have been able to forgive those who have done me
wrong. I understand that God has forgiven me because of His love for me and it is only right for me to do
the same to others.
I believe I am literate in being a Christian because I am able to read verses and then apply them to the
way I live and the way I treat those around me.
Special Olympics
I have interacted closely with people with disabilities for my whole life. My brother has down syndrome
so I have always had to be able to understand what he was trying to say and how situations might affect
him. It is because of my brother and my continuing passion to be friends to people with disabilities that I
am literate in this skill. I constantly have to use Critical Reading skills to gauge how I should respond and
act in varying situations with people with disabilities.
Growing up with a brother that has down syndrome allowed me to learn to understand people that may
not speak clearly. My brother, Evan, is clear in some of what he says and can create somewhat coherent
sentences but it is nowhere near the level of a person without a mental disability. I am able to decipher
most of what he says and relate this information to others because of how much I am around him. I am
also able to understand his mannerisms and judge when he is getting angry or upset. This ability has
transferred to my work with other people with disabilities.
This is the location of one of my favorite events of the year: the Spring Games for Special Olympics of
Cabarrus county. At this event people with disabilities from all over the county compete in different
track and field events. There is a wide range of ability between the athletes and the sports are adjusted
accordingly. When I was working as a volunteer I was paired with a person with a disability. Two years
ago my buddys name was Davis. Davis had down syndrome that was slightly more high functioning than
my brother. I was able to use the skills I had cultivated in interacting with my brother to understand

what he was saying, how best to cheer him on, and when the heat had become too much for him and it
was time to get lunch.
In order to be friendly to people with disabilities it is imperative that I understand what they are saying
and feeling. It is often times more difficult to figure this information out from a person with a disability
than it is from a person without a disability. I am able to read the situation through body language and
their words to become friends with people with disabilities.
Voice Lessons
While in high school I took voice lessons for three years. I had previously been in chorus but was never
very serious until freshman year of high school. It was through the process of my voice lessons that I
practiced critical reflection of my products.
After a year of taking private voice lessons, I was assigned a project to showcase a new, or improved
upon, talent or skill. I would have to present this project with the product that came out of it at my high
school. In the first year of voice lessons I had never actually performed in front of people outside of my
family. I decided that for this project I would learn to perform for a larger group of people and that I
would learn a wide range of music to push myself even more.
I worked almost every day on the songs my voice teacher and I had chosen for me to perform. I had to
learn how to hit high and low notes while maintaining an even tone, and how to sing multiple lines on
one breath of air. As the recital time approached I also began working with an accompanist on the
piano. It was through this that I really had to begin reflecting on how I was singing. I had to judge
whether or not I was singing faster or slower than tempo and if I was staying on beat as I sang. There
were many times where I would falter and have to find where exactly I lost the note or got off beat.
There was one song in particular that was all in Italian and required me to sing very fast through the first
part of the song then slow down tremendously. I struggled with this so much that I began to record
myself singing the song during my practices. Even though I hated listening to myself sing, I was able to
find where I was getting off beat and losing the note much easier because it was right in front of me and
I could play it over and over again.
Because of my practice and reflection with this song I was able to sing it perfectly at my recital. It was
the best performance of that song that I had ever done. I stayed on beat the entire time and was able to
stay with my accompanist throughout the song.
Volleyball
It was here, at Carolina Courts, that my skills in volleyball really began to take shape. I had played
volleyball for many years prior to playing on a travel team for Carolina Courts but when I was on this
travel team I learned how to perfect my skills in a way that made sense to me.
As a right side hitter there are many transitions that I have to be able to accomplish in a short amount of
time. For instance, the position I stand in when the ball is on the opponents side of the net is almost
exactly where the setter needs to be immediately after the ball crosses back over to our side. I have to
be able to get out of her way quickly and be back to my hitting position off the net. I struggled with this
transition for a long time. I would either get in the setters way or not get back to my spot in time to get
a solid hit. While at Carolina Courts I used my composing process to figure out the steps I needed to take

to be make my team successful. I found that if I dropped my left foot back of the net and turned into the
court, I could get back to my spot in three steps. This allowed me to be efficient in blocking and hitting
as well as stay out of the setters way.
I also had trouble with my approach to hitting when I first began volleyball. I could not get my steps to
line up and get me in the air in time to make a string hit against my opponents. Every coach has their
own idea of how many steps an approach should be and when you should begin your approach but even
after listening to their instructions, I could not figure it out. Instead, I decided to combine a few of the
different approaches I had been taught throughout the years. This resulted in the approach I still do
today in which I step a small step with the right foot, a large step with the left, a step to put me where I
need to be with the right, and then a small step with my left foot to align my feet in order for me to
jump. Normally an approach for right-handed hitter would start with the left foot first but I could not get
my timing correct when starting with the left. Because of my understanding of what needs to happen to
get a solid hit, I was able to compose an approach that worked for me.
By the time I began playing for a travel team at Carolina Courts I already knew the basic skills of
volleyball, but it was here that I made those skills work effectively for me.
UWRT
From this class I hope to become more confident in my writing ability and learn to be willing to be
creative. I want to be able to become proficient in writing and gain skills that I can transfer over to other
areas in my life.
I am very excited but also very nervous for this class. In the past I have not been the best writer. I tend
to struggle to get my thoughts down on paper in a coherent manner. I am not a risk taker when it comes
to writing about my feelings or my past experiences, but I am very excited to take the risk in this class.
I have not had much practice with creative writing in the past which is why I am so nervous for this class.
I have only ever had to write lab reports or discuss the meaning behind a piece of literature. While these
show a part of my mind and thought process to the world, they do not leave me feeling exposed like
writing about my literacies does.
Because of my practice with only writing reports, I tend to write in a very technical way. I do not like to
add plot or emotion to my writing because I feel like it is harder for me to judge the quality of the piece
if this is done. When writing technically I can look at the assignment sheet or the rubric and simply check
off boxes of what I have completed. In more creative settings I am not able to do this and it really
stresses me out. I hope this class can free me as a writer and allow me to see and write outside of the
box.